S.J.D. Admission and Program Requirements

The primary purpose of the S.J.D. degree is to provide an
opportunity and environment for scholarly research mainly for persons
who are either in or preparing for academic or comparable scholarly
legal careers.

Admission. The conditions of admission to the S.J.D. program are:

A J.D. or equivalent American or foreign first law degree, as well as
work satisfying 1(d), below;

in the case of holders of law degrees from foreign countries, proof
of completion of all academic work necessary for entering upon the practice
or apprenticeship for the practice of law, judicial office, or the teaching
of law at university level;

outstanding academic performance as evidenced by the quality of program,
written work, recommendations from teachers, and grades;

submission of a substantial written research project demonstrating a
high capacity for the legal research and writing in English necessary
for a successful S.J.D. dissertation. The preferred evidence of such capacity
is a good quality University of Wisconsin LL.M. thesis. S.J.D. applicants
may, however, present equivalent work (such as substantial LL.M. thesis
done at another University, a monograph or law review article);

in the case of holders of law degrees from universities where the greater
part of their instruction was not in English, proof of high proficiency
in English for advanced study of law; high proficiency will ordinarily
be demonstrated by a score of at least 625/263 (computer-based) on the
TOEFL examination;

a detailed research proposal of at least six (6) double-spaced typed
pages specifying the objectives, methodology, required materials and timetable;

acceptance by the Graduate Programs Committee

consent of a faculty member of the Law School to act as the candidate's
principal academic advisor (the Graduate Programs Committee will
first decide on admission and then it will seek an advisor; if no
suitable advisor is available, admission will also be declined).

Program. The S.J.D. program shall adhere to the following guidelines:

Research toward a doctoral dissertation is the core of the program.
The dissertation should be equivalent in quality and substance to a substantial
monograph.

Ordinarily, students seeking the S.J.D. may not take courses for credit.
Exceptions may be made on the advice of the advisor and with the consent
of the chair of the Graduate Programs Committee when the course is a seminar
involving substantial writing obligations consistent with the thesis topic.

Full-time S.J.D. candidates shall register for 12 credits for each of
the first two semesters of residency, unless they have already established
residency from immediately preceding LL.M. work being continued in the
S.J.D. dissertation without a break of more than one semester=s time.
Except where a seminar is authorized, those credits shall be in directed
research. A minimum of 24 credit hours is required for completion of the
S.J.D. degree. To qualify for the S.J.D. degree, the candidate must also
prepare an acceptable thesis (see 5 below)

Residence.
Registration and physical presence as a full-time student for one academic
year with satisfactory completion of at least 24 credits is required. S.J.D.
candidates who have completed their residence requirement, including those
who have completed their residence requirement from an immediately preceding
LL.M. program (see 2(c), above), may maintain full-time law school status
during the second year registering for 3 credits each semester

Term for completion of program.
The program is to be completed no later than three calendar years after the
residence period. A residence period that was established during immediately
preceding LL.M. work being continued in the S.J.D. program is considered the
residence period of the S.J.D. program for the purposes of this section.

Award of degree.

The granting of a degree shall be recommended to the Law School
faculty on the completion of the following: approval of the thesis by
the principal academic advisor and the Reading Committee and approval
of the completed program by the Graduate Programs Committee.

Prior to the recommendation of a degree to the faculty, the candidate
shall deposit two suitable copies of the thesis with the Law Library and
pay the library's filing expense charge.